On her 50th birthday, devoted mother and laundry worker Beate faces a life-changing medical diagnosis that prompts her to pursue a long-buried dream: swimming the English Channel. Juggling her daughter’s exams, granddaughter’s care, her son and his pregnant partner, and her best friend’s love life, she throws herself into grueling training. Amid familial resistance, and with friend Henni’s , Beate braves the Dover–Calais crossing and rediscovers her own strength.